Campaign in Birmingham

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  • Campaign C aimed to end segregation by provoking white violence using nonviolent methods to gain support from the public
  • They chose Birmingham because of its total segregation
• • It included sitins, boycotts, and peaceful marches
  • Young demonstrators were trained as most adults were in jail
• • 6000 marched, and 900 were arrested
  • Police used fire hoses and attack dogs on the teenagers which caused negative publicity
• • The campaign was held in 1963
• Short term significance:

  • Desegregation timetable for Birmingham
  • Black and white businesses bombed
  • First significant riots against white violence
  • Federal troops ordered into Alabama
  • 1000 black students expelled for missing school through protesting or imprisonment
• Long term significance:

  • Goverment produced tougher civil rights bill
  • More Americans saw civil rights as urgent issue for USA
  • Black Americans questioned tactics used by civil rights campaigners - putting the innocent in danger?
  • 143 cities had started desegreagtion 1 month after
  • Protests in cities all over USA
  • Black people thought desegregation was too slow and would not work if forced upon people